Category Archives: Annoucements

Book Publishing is Murder!

Click on the book to buy.

Taylor Browning is the mystery editor at Endicott Publishing when the CEO is found dead in his locked office. Everyone is under suspicion, secrets are revealed and Taylor does a little snooping. Things go from bad to worse. If you’ve ever wondered what goes on at a publishing house, this is the inside scoop. One thing is certain; Taylor can’t edit her way out of real murder.

“Flying Change” Free This Weekend

Free This Weekend Only (April 20-22, 2018)

Click on the book to try it free.

Molly dreams of becoming an Olympic equestrian. When she lands a job at a local stable against her father’s wishes, she is excited and hopes dad will acquiesce. The owner of Reintree Stables exchanges her work for riding lessons and she believes she is on her way. But life has a habit of throwing challenges in front of us. Molly is no exception. Two frightening incidents occur and Molly comes to believe she is a coward. If she can’t overcome this notion, her riding career is “”over.What she doesn’t know; someone’s life hangs in the balance.

“Without Notice” #AmazonGiveaway

Amazon Giveaway Continues (Through April 25, 2018)

Click on the Book Cover to Enter for a Chance to Win!

Blended families are okay until it affects Courtney’s family. It’s bad enough her father moves the family to a new city after her mother is killed, but then they meet his girlfriend Silky. Courtney resists in the only way a thirteen-year-old can; being unkind even when she doesn’t want to be. But a new friendship with a troubled but adventurous girl allows Courtney to try new experiences, until one of these lands them in trouble. Courtney will have to depend on Silky for help.

Enter to Win a copy of “Without Notice”

From the author of “Flying Change.”

Click on the Book Cover to Enter

Blended families are okay until it affects Courtney’s family. It’s bad enough her father moves the family to a new city after her mother’s death, but then they meet his girlfriend Silky. Courtney resists in the only way a thirteen-year-old can; being unkind even when she doesn’t want to be. But a new friendship with a troubled but adventurous girl allows Courtney to try new experiences, until one of these lands them in trouble. Courtney will have to depend on Silky for help.

New Teen Book “Without Notice” by G G Collins

From the author of “Flying Change,” an equestrian novel for teens and up.

Click on Book Cover to Buy at Amazon. A #KindleUnlimited e-book.

Courtney’s life turned upside down when her mother was killed by a drunk driver. Now, they are moving from Minneapolis to her father’s hometown in New Mexico, where he will run an art gallery. Older sister Francine is heartbroken because she has to leave her boyfriend behind. Younger sister Toby just misses Mom.

One thing is particularly disturbing: her dad’s friend Silky. He says they know one another through the gallery, but is that really all? It seems she is always interjecting herself into their lives. Courtney, who is a good cook, took over cooking meals for the family, but lately Silky’s even intruding there. Silky is a terrible cook, but her father eats everything she prepares and compliments it. Being a teen is hard enough, but she doesn’t want a blended family. Courtney’s conflicted emotions cause her to say hurtful things to Silky, and then regret them. She tries to cope with feelings of loss and the need to move on.

Courtney and Francine hatch a plan to sabotage Silky; but soon Francine has found a new boyfriend leaving Courtney alone in the effort. All the while, Silky is trying to make friends with the family. She invites Courtney to tweak her cooking skills with the promise of teaching her how to make pottery. Drawn to Silky’s tales of Native American artists and their search for the best clay, Courtney grudgingly listens even as her interest grows. Silky’s stories are full of intrigue and clandestine journeys to collect clay under cover of darkness. During one of her pottery lessons, Silky shares a painful story with Courtney. Loss does not play favorites.

She meets Audrey, the girl next door, and immediately strikes up a friendship. Audrey is an outspoken know-it-all with a sense of adventure that is infectious. She takes Courtney on new experiences including the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. She and Audrey attend a mass launch which is unlike anything she has ever seen. Courtney is spellbound watching the hot air balloons. Unfortunately, Audrey has a dark side. She makes a mistake that challenges their newfound friendship and threatens Courtney’s delicate relationship with Silky.

Despite her resentment about moving, thirteen-year-old Courtney discovers this strange new city with its brown houses, Pueblo architecture and ancient stories to be as mysterious as it is beautiful. Even as she resists, Santa Fe casts its spell.

The Hazards of Writing a Cozy

by G G Collins (Copyright 2017)

Available at Amazon September 15, 2017

Mystery cozies were originally just called mysteries. Even before Agatha Christie, there was Mary Roberts Rinehart. She introduced the “had I but known” device. I devoured Rinehart’s books but soon attacked Christie’s as well. But I owe it all to a book by Shirley Jackson entitled We Have Always Lived in the Castle. The ending blew me away and it was my introduction to mysteries.

Cozies, a term introduced during the 1980s, have a few things in common. The murder happens “off screen” and is usually poison, a simple wallop to the head with say a candlestick or a clean shot without a lot of blood. Please no hollow R.I.P bullets, a .22 will do nicely.

These murders happened to people and in places where, well, these things just don’t happen: a mansion, bookstore or in my case a book publisher who specializes in mysteries. Did you see that coming? Often the sleuth is an amateur, although they can be a promising amateur.

In the early days, the emphasis was on the puzzle and the suspects. And everyone was and is suspect. The cats, recipes and delving into characters backgrounds and careers is a more modern concept. And if there is romance, it’s discreet. Like those kisses from the early movies that only allowed a 3-second kiss. And please, no bedroom scene unless you only see the lights go off from outside.

But here’s where I got into trouble; swearing! I admit it. I curse. And frankly, I don’t see how a someone who kills people would not use profanity. “Excuse me,” the killer said. “I’m going to cut your blankety-blank throat now.” Really?

Okay, I get it. Cozies are about having fun with murder. Someone gets the axe and we spend the rest of the book drinking tea, petting cats and maybe do a little baking until the perp is identified and all’s well with the world again.

My first cozy is due out in October 2017. I’m having a ball writing the Dead Editor File. But I’ve had a really difficult time, er, not cussing. I’ve even got my protagonist trying not to, you know; swear.

However, there is nothing I can do about her Abyssinian cat, Oscar. I’ve had the pleasure of sharing my life with an Aby, and believe me he could let loose with the four letter words; in Cat of course. He lives on in Oscar. Oscar is known to leave “surprises” for Taylor when he isn’t fed on time or in the way he’s grown accustom to dining.

So I’ll be washing my mouth out with soap and tossing quarters in the “swear jar” before the book is complete as I try to think of clever ways to not write well, you know.

And when I use the term “dang it,” well I think you’ll know what I was thinking. It’s the cozy way.

I hope you enjoy mystery editor Taylor Browning in her first outing in the Dead Editor File. Available on Amazon October 15, 2017.

Teen Fiction & Cozy Mystery Series

New Teen Fiction debuts with “Flying Change” in July 2017.

Available Amazon Pre-Order

Fourteen-year-old Molly O’Connor aspires to become an Olympic equestrian. Despite her father’s disapproval, she lands a job at the Reintree Stables. It doesn’t hurt that the owner’s son is her age. Her work pays for riding lessons, but just when she sees her objective on the way to fruition two incidents occur that frighten her. Now she sees herself as a coward. Even the horse she loves can’t help her. The big riding career seems over before it began. Little does she know another test of her courage is coming, one where life hangs in the balance.

New Cozy Mystery Series begins with “Dead Editor File,” The Taylor Browning Mysteries. Coming in October 2017.

Preston Endicott, Jr. was hated by most of his staff at Endicott Publishing, at least until he turned up dead in his locked executive office. Taylor Browning, a new mystery editor at the book publishing house, sees plenty of possible perps right in the office suite, but his employees are hardly the only people to count as suspects. His ex-wife wasn’t a fan either. Dominique Boucher, their bestselling author, has just submitted her latest manuscript. It’s a locked room mystery with a story line similar to the real life puzzle. About the only non-suspect is Tayor’s cat, Oscar. Soon Taylor doesn’t know who to trust and discovers her own life in jeopardy. She can’t edit her way out of this one!

Mystery & Thriller Week at Goodreads

What mystery in your own life could be a plot for a book?

G.G. CollinsYou’d think after I wrote a book (Reluctant Medium) about the pitfalls of trying rituals you know nothing about, I would pass on performing one in real life. Oh noooo. Grief does strange things to us and when a dear friend died I, with no experience at all, enacted a “transitional blessing” for her. During the blessing, I asked if she could let me know she was okay, never expecting anything would come of it–but you know they do this in movies, and it works in that concept.

Short StoryAvailable at Amazon.Click on Cover

The following morning I was mundanely applying toothpaste to my brush when suddenly a small clock flew off a shelf, hit the wall on the other side of the room and fell into the bathtub. I was shaken and confused at this occurrence, but the clock was intact so I replaced it on the shelf.

All day I puzzled over this. The shelf was secure and level. How could this have happened? I even measured the distance from the shelf to the wall: eight feet. The clock had not fallen off, but streaked across the room like a UFO!

The following day as I prepared once again to brush my teeth, I touched the clock. It was stable. Reassured and about to believe I’d dreamed it all, I squeezed the toothpaste tube.

And then, the clock rattled on the shelf! At that point, I was actually a little afraid.

That’s when I ran for my laptop and began writing what would become a Rachel Blackstone Paranormal Mystery short story. The title is “Presence” and it’s available at Amazon. Read it and discover what the message meant.

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